A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasound image diagnosis apparatus and control method thereof for measuring diagnosis parameters, and more particularly to an ultrasound image diagnosis apparatus and control method thereof that displays panoramic image data showing wide scope figure data associated in time series with a plurality of measured image data and/or measured values acquired from the measured data and showing functional data.
B. Background of the Invention
An ultrasound image diagnosis apparatus typically transmits ultrasounds via ultrasound transducers installed in an ultrasound probe to an object, such as a patient, and receives the reflected ultrasounds (echo signals) which show differences in the acoustic impedances of the object's organs enabling the display of an image of the organ on a monitor. Since the ultrasound image diagnosis apparatus can easily obtain two dimensional images in a real time from the simple touching of an ultrasound probe to a patient body surface, this device is widely used for diagnosing various statuses of a patient's body.
Ultrasound diagnosis methods for acquiring living body data through reflection waves from tissues or blood cells in a living body have been rapidly developing due to significant technology developments such as the ultrasound pulses reflection method and the ultrasound Doppler method. As a result of the development of these technologies, a B mode method for acquiring B mode image data and a color Doppler method for acquiring color Doppler image data are now available for ultrasound image diagnosis.
Further, Doppler spectrum methods and M mode methods have also been developed. In these methods, receiption signals are acquired by performing transmissions/receptions in a prescribed direction for an object. The Doppler spectrum method generates frequency spectrum of Doppler signal components (hereinafter, referred to as “spectrum data”) by processing the receiving signals. The Doppler spectrum method is able to quantitatively and accurately measure the speed of the bloodstream in a measuring region in a prescribed direction by measuring temporal changes of the spectrum data. The M mode method is able to quantitatively evaluate vital functions of living body tissues by measuring temporal changes in reflection intensity (B mode data) of the receiption signals acquired in a prescribed direction.
The M mode image data acquired through the M mode method is generated by successively arranging a time series B mode data in a time axis direction. The time series B mode data is acquired through repetitions of a plurality of ultrasound transmissions/receptions in the same direction to/from an object. Thus, the M mode image data is usually shown as a distance to a reflection body on a longitudinal axis with time on a horizontal axis. The amplitude of the B mode data is shown by brightness.
In the Doppler spectrum method, a plurality of ultrasound transmissions and receptions in the same direction with respect to an object are repeated at a prescribed interval. The Doppler signals are detected by performing orthogonal phase detections on the ultrasound echo waves reflected from moving reflection bodies, such as blood cells, using a reference signal that has a frequency that is substantially equal to the center frequencies of ultrasound pulses. The spectrum data is then generated by performing a frequency analysis of the Doppler signal extracted from the Doppler signals through a range gate in a desired measurement position. Further, spectrum image data is generated by successively arranging a plurality of spectrum data that is time sequentially acquired at the measurement positions, in a time axis direction. Moreover, the spectrum image data generated trough the Doppler spectrum method is usually shown as a longitudinal axis for frequency and a horizontal axis for time. The power (strength) of each frequency components is shown by brightness (tone).
To correctly set up the range gate at a measuring position on an object, the range gate is set up after monitoring the B mode image data or the color Doppler image data (hereinafter, the image data for setting the range gate is collectively referred to as “reference image data”), and a measurement marker showing a position of the range gate is displayed in an overlapping manner on the reference image data.
Conventionally, a display method has been proposed for displaying spectrum image data generated at the measuring position and various diagnosis parameters measured based on the generated spectrum image data together with the reference image data having overlapped measurement markers (for instance, see Japanese Patent Application Publication 2005-81081).
In the conventionally proposed method, a maximum frequency fp is initially detected for each of a plurality of spectrum data acquired in a time series. Based on a trace waveform (trend waveform) indicating temporal changes of the plurality maximum frequencies fp, a peak of systolic (Ps) and an end of diastolic (Ed) of a heart are detected. Then, based on the peak of systolic (Ps) and the end of diastolic (Ed), measurements of diagnosis parameters for peripheral blood vessels are performed.
Such generations of the trace waveforms, detections of the peak of systolic (Ps) and the end of diastolic (Ed), or measurements of the diagnosis parameters have been, in the past, manually performed using freeze spectrum image data. However, recently, a method for automatically measuring diagnosis parameters using spectrum image data displayed in a real time has been developed (for instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,321).
However, in these conventional methods, image data is acquired in a narrow region of one frame. As a result, when monitoring the acquired reference image data, only one measuring position is designated as an efficient position for a diagnosis of the object. Spectrum image data is generated at the designated measuring position, and diagnosis parameters are measured based on the spectrum image data. Then both the generated spectrum image data and the measured diagnosis parameters are displayed with the reference image data. Consequently, observing a plurality of bloodstream data in a blood vessel passing through a wide range covered by a plurality frames, such as a carotid artery, having a plurality of measuring positions, has been difficult. Thus, while the plurality of measured data is somewhat displayable, the display of the measured data corresponding to each of the plurality of measuring positions has not been achieved. Thus, it has been nearly impossible to observe comparison data between upstream data and downstream data of the bloodstream in a blood vessel, or to observe comparison data between bloodstream data before and after a branching of a blood vessel based on the reference image data. Accordingly, after finishing desired measurements, a laboratory technician has conventionally illustrated identifying relationships between each measured value and each measuring position. Consequently, such operation has severely imposed strain on the operator, such as a doctor or a laboratory technician. Further, the conventional method has reduced diagnosis accuracy and throughput efficiency of the diagnosis.